The Globe: Plight Of The Uighurs In China

The last decade has not been kind to the Muslim minorities in [South] East Asia. The Rohingya of Myanmar have been driven to seek refuge in Bangladesh as the government cracked down on the group. The Uighurs -- a group of Turkic people who practice Islam -- have been increasingly targeted by other ethnic groups and state governments. In Afghanistan, the Uighurs were rounded up by enemy tribes and turned over to the NATO coalition under the premise that they were anti-government insurgents where they would then be shipped off to Gitmo or other CIA black sites to be interrogated. The main plight of the ethnic group is in their home of Western China, particularly in the country’s Xinjiang province where the government has cracked down on religious freedom for Muslims. Whether an Uighur is guilty or not, they are targeted by the government with the risk of being sent to government-sponsored “re-education” camps. Some have reportedly not returned to their loved ones who fear those jailed are dead. While Uighurs argue that the government is destroying their human rights, but Beijing claims that terrorist groups have forced their hand and order must be maintained.

All this began after the September 11th Terrorist Attacks in 2001. President Bush’s call to the other nations of the world to join the War on Terror reached Beijing, which saw groups like the East Turkestan Islamic movement as a serious threat to stability in Xinjiang. The bloody Turkic insurrection of 2009 that killed over 150 Han people and Uighurs was the last straw for the government. Because the Uighurs shared the faith of the Islamic militant groups, they would face the brunt of the Chinese counterterrorism operations.

Reports from 2018 and 2019 have shed light on what exactly China has been doing to counter radicalization in the Uighur population. The policies are not meant to respect religious freedom. Uighur men can have their beards chopped off, celebrating Ramadan is prohibited, and even group study of the Qur’an is frowned upon. The unlucky ones among the Uighurs have been sent off to be “re-educated” and stripped of their beliefs. Reports indicate that prisoners are subjected to inhumane acts like torture and interrogation. Estimates suggest that over a million people have been held in these camps since the program began in 2017. The most recent scandal to grip the program was the release of a video of the Uighur musician, Abdurehim Heyit. The video was meant to show proof of life, but people have noticed inconsistencies with the video, suggesting that Heyit died in prison.

This targeting of a religious minority is not unusual for Beijing to do. For years, China has cracked down on Christians who are practicing their religions in underground churches. As with the Uighur crackdown, people are forbidden from discussing the issue on social media and other forums to prevent widespread circulation of the topic in Chinese media.  

To the Chinese government, taking an aggressive stance against Islamic terrorism is the only way to quell the civil unrest in the province. Xinjiang is the largest administrative region in the country and by far the most important in terms of economic and national security. The province has an abundant supply of oil and natural gas, which is vital for fueling Chinese Premier Xi Jinping’s plans for rapid economic expansion. With tensions burning in the Middle East and Venezuela, being able to produce their own fossil fuels would help China in case there is another fuel shortage from other sources.

Besides the resources of the province, the strategic value that Xinjiang provides to Chinese security cannot be stated enough. Much like the Caucasian Republics in South-Western Russia (Chechnya, North Ossetia, Dagestan, etc.), Xinjiang acts as a vital buffer region against China’s regional rivals. If the province were to successfully throw off the shackle of Chinese control, the up and coming super power’s sphere of influence would shrink drastically. Rival states who compete for influence in Asia could seek military ties to whatever sovereign power that was to govern the region. For China, this would be unacceptable. While the government could easily quash any uprising in Xinjiang, it is better to stamp out extremism with hard-line policies than to allow terrorist sympathies to fester.   

Ultimately there is very little the international community can do to prevent China from carrying out its deradicalization program. Similar to the muted reaction of countries to Russia’s abuse of power in their invasions of the Chechen Republic in the 1900s and early 2000s, no other great power is willing to contend with the rising dragon of Asia in its own borders. China’s status as a member of the UN’s P5 (Permanent 5) also gives it significant armor from other members of the UN. It can veto (and thus killing) any Security Council resolution that condemns China’s actions. Other countries also do not view the Uighurs as worth the risk of contending with China’s massive two million manned military that is also equipped with a growing nuclear arsenal. it is better to turn a blind eye to what is happening in a country that finances so much of the world’s development.

Furthermore, the targeting of religious groups goes against Article 2, Section 2 of the International Convention of  Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) which encourages states to “undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Even though China is a member of the Convention, the CESCR essentially means nothing as member states are not actually mandated to do anything. The convention is merely words as there are no enforcement measures that allow victims to find justice.

Out of all the Muslim majority states, Turkey -- whose people share the Uighurs ethnic heritage -- is the only state openly criticized China’s policy. Erdogan’s government has called for an end to the mass incarceration and for the release of Mr. Heyit. China has fiercely rebuked these accusations and is demanding an apology from Turkey. Other than condemnation, there is very little that Turkey could do. Sanctions are a possibility, but this policy could risk dire economic and diplomatic retaliation by an important partner in Asia.

While China’s concern about terrorism in Xinjiang is not without reason, taking extreme measures could play directly into the hands of terrorist groups. The Islamic State and Turkestan Islamic Movement could capitalize off of growing rancor in the Uighur population and recruit those targeted to their causes. Giving terrorist groups more recruits would make the counterterrorism policy not just redundant, but more harmful than doing nothing.